Making the change to brown rice

Making permanent healthy changes to our diet can be a difficult task but with a little bit of experimenting it doesn’t have to be a painful one. For the sake of our health my husband and I have tried really hard to make these changes and what we have discovered is that it doesn’t have to be something that you struggle with. There are some wonderful healthy foods out there that make for wonderful substitutes to things that you already love.

Making the final switch to brown rice was very frustrating for me. It never seemed to cook right and I didn’t think it always worked with my Asian or Indian dishes. I got myself to the point that I would have brown rice in the house but would use my white rice for certain dishes that I felt were not interchangeable with the new grain. Because I grew up in Asia, rice was just one of those integral ingredients of my life that I was just not wiling to sacrifice, so if it didn’t taste right I didn’t bother. Then about two months ago my life change, while restocking my pantry I discovered at the store Brown Jasmine Rice and Basmati Rice. And what a blessing that discovery has been. Because I think the change to healthy eating has to be enjoyable other wise you will never stick to it. Taste and texture are important in good food and one of the problems that I had with brown rice is would turn out chewy and watery. So I started doing more research into it and began to tweek the way I cooked it. After many attempts I finally came up with a method that has become fail proof for myself.

Brown Rice

1 cup Brown Basmati rice
1 1/2 cups water or broth

Rinse rice. Add water and rice into pot that has a tight fitting lid. Set the burner to high heat and bring the water and rice to a boil first without a lid. Then place the lid on top and reduce heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes, do not remove lid. Then remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for at least 10 minutes no less. This is one of the most important things to do when you are making brown rice, so don’t let yourself be tempted to take off the lid before it sits. Then fluff with a fork and serve.